#With is it not. I don't think it should be an indicator of an unhappy marriage if both of you agree that some nights one of you needs their

[compulsiveobsessing]

i need opinions

told a couple friends that i don't think i'd be able to share a bed with my hypothetical spouse every night and they think it's weird and one asked if i had commitment issues

is that??? weird??? i have particular needs lmao

[save-the-villainous-cat]

"You," the hero whispered. "No."

It should have been enough for the villain to stop. To actually pull their hands away and stare into their enemy's eyes for more than just a second. It should have been enough for them to simply go the other way and ignore whatever their nemesis was dealing with.

But they couldn't. They had tried before. They had tried countless times. Over and over and over again with no use.

"Please," the villain whispered back. Their hands were shaking, right above the hero's open wound, right where they stared at the broken bone. "Let me do this."

"No," the hero said between labored breaths. "No. You can't just...you can't just show up here."

"Please..." The villain touched the hero's leg, carefully examining the rest of the bone that wasn't broken and the hero - stupidly so - pulled away, leaving them with a horrible stinging pain and a scream horrid enough to make the villain flinch.

Months ago, the villain would have laughed at that. They would have circled the hero and taunted, they would have played with them first. But the villain's desire for toying was long gone. Along with the satisfaction that would come with it.

"Listen, don't move, okay? You need to - we need to calm down," the villain tried but the hero didn't seem to be listening.

Their face was drained of all its color and the sweat ran down their forehead; the less obvious indications of their horrible physical condition. And then, of course, the thigh, the femur. Broken and bleeding. The villain had broken their own femur before.

It had left their leg nearly immovable for half a year.

"You fucking-" the hero hissed. "How dare you?"

The villain couldn't tell if their enemy was actually crying or if that was just the sweat. However, they understood quickly that the hero was, in fact, not very happy to see them.

Sometimes, the villain would dream of themselves as a hero. They would think about saving their enemy or saving the city. They would think about all those people cheering at them and being happy to see them.

They imagined what it would feel like to hear the hero whisper "thank you" into their ear and to read about their own heroics the next day. Sometimes, they really really wanted to be good and do good but more importantly, they wanted other people to see it. They wanted that affection, they wanted that jubilation.

But no matter what they tried, they screwed up most of the time. They acted to rash or not rash enough. They didn't make the choices a hero made and ultimately, they weren't like that. They could never be.

"You betrayed me," the hero said between sobs. "You left. You left me."

"Listen, please. I thought it was best for us. You were so unhappy with your job and-"

"Not because of you."

"I know, but I thought it would be easier for you if I-"

"It wasn't, okay?! It wasn't easy. It sucked, it fucking sucked," the hero nearly screamed. They stared at their thigh and tried to swallow some of the sobs but it didn't really lead anywhere. The villain knew the hero was tough but this tough? Staring at a wound and finding the energy to complain about their enemy leaving for three months - that kind of tough?

"Okay, I understand," the villain said. "I'm sorry. I'm really sorry for leaving. I just thought with me gone, you could relax more."

"I got assigned to other villains," the hero responded. They gestured towards their thigh. "Villains who do this."

"I understand, I am sorry." They stared at the hero whose bottom lip started to tremble.

"You left," the hero repeated. Their voice sounded strangely weak and all the villain could do was sit next to them and stare. "You just left. Just like that."

The hero snapped with their fingers. "...just like that."

"It wasn't easy for me either, if that's what you want to hear from me. It was horrible, I- I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. At night I would go outside and sit on a bench for hours, thinking. It wasn't easy. It wasn't..." The villain took in a deep breath. "I clearly made a mistake. I'm sorry. Just let me-"

"Don't do that to me," the hero said. The villain could feel a horrible feeling inside their guts, a horrible turning and toiling that made them almost vomit. The little trust the both of them had built between them had snapped like an overstretched rubber band and the villain could feel the grief behind it.

"Please, listen. You're important. You're more important than any of this and I sincerely, truly didn't want to hurt you." Their voice was shaking as much as their hands. They stared at the wound. Thankfully, whatever had done this to the hero had missed the femoral artery. That didn't change anything about the bone they could see clearly. Nor the amount of blood. "I never meant to hurt you, I...I admire you and, please trust me. Just one last time and after that you decide what happens with us."

The villain didn't expect anything. In fact, they couldn't think of a single action the hero might be able to come up with.

But then, the hero took their hand and squeezed their eyes shut.

"One last time," the hero said. "Get us out of here."

The villain obeyed perfectly.

[canary3d-obsessed]

Restless Rewatch: The Untamed, Episode 41 part one

(Masterpost) (Pinboard)  (whole thing on AO3)

Warning! Spoilers for All 50 Episodes!

Empathy

We start off with Wei Wuxian, paper edition, flinging himself onto the surprisingly well-preserved face of Nie Mingjue.

Back in their room, Lan Wangji immediately recognizes that Wei Wuxian is doing empathy, even though it's an advanced technique that Lan Wangji hasn't seen him use before, as far as I can recall. Maybe the wind from nowhere that kicks up as soon as the empathy session starts is an indicator he's been trained to recognize.

Lan Wangji: Where's my fan?

Watercooler Gossip

We head into an extended flashback from Nie Mingjue's memories.

Dead-Nie-Mingjue spends a surprising amount of time thinking about how sexy and imposing he used to be, as well as remembering things he wasn't actually there to witness. The whole sequence is presented in usual close-third-person narrative POV. Maybe when we die, we switch to third-person camera view. *shrug*

Nie Mingjue finishes off a couple of Zombies without wiping his sabre, which would make Aslan very unhappy if we were in Narnia.

Then he glares angrily at his crew of cheerful disciples and their unbloodied swords, for reasons that are unclear. He's an angry guy.

(More behind the cut!)

He says to call the dude who was "the last one to stay guard last time." When they say it's Meng Yao he looks shocked. I don't know why he's shocked because I don't know what he actually means by "the last one to stay guard last time." On Netflix this is translated as the dude who "stayed the latest last time," which I guess means that Meng Yao works harder than everyone else? But apparently the result is that he is required to carry water for the rest of the group, so maybe it means he's a slacker? Without seeing the duty roster I can't really tell what the deal is here.

Next we see Meng Yao walking up with a whole bunch of water bottles on a hill above the CDrama River of Questionable Life Choices, where we have previously seen Wei Wuxian, Wen Kexing, A-Qing, and maybe those Lotus Casebook guys.

He approaches the mouth of a (incredibly beautiful) cave, where he can hear people talking shit about him inside.

Instead of going inside and telling them to shut their collective pie hole, he goes and sits by a tree to have lunch by himself. With…all the water? They should have waited to insult him until AFTER the water delivery. Jeez, these guys are dumb.

While he chows down on his bread, he keeps glancing wistfully at the cave where the dudes are, but somehow fails to notice Nie Mingjue walking up to him until he's 2 feet away.

Nie Mingjue asks why Meng Yao isn't in the cave with the others. Meng Yao makes a face at the cave and Nie Mingjue strides over there, eager for an opportunity to be pissed off about something.

They walk into the cave together and the dudes are STILL talking shit about him. I get that gossip is fun, but there are only 3 things to know about Meng Yao. 1. Mom was a sex worker 2. dad is reknowned creep Jin Guangshan 3. got kicked down the stairs at Jinlintai. That's it.

Anyone who enjoys gossip knows that the conversation would have shifted by now, to one of the following topics: 1. who else's mom is a sex worker? Yours, no yours! 2. the further creep adventures of Jin Guangshan 3. every over-long staircase that anyone in the group has ever heard of, and everyone who either climbed up it or fell down it.

Instead, the conversation has stayed resolutely on the topic of Meng Yao, and Nie Mingjue just stands there with him behind a rock wall, listening while his guys lay out all of the embarrasing detail, along with their big opinions.

One guy says that Meng Yao has accepted his fate and has to run and get water for them, but another guy says he hasn't accepted it, that he's diligent & working hard all the time so he can gain fame and get his father to acknowledge him. This is the only guy who has said anything positive about him, and this is the speech Nie Mingjue decides to interrupt, rather than the speech about how many men Meng Yao's mom has fucked. What the hell, Nie Mingjue? Nie Minjue clearly has no interest in saving Meng Yao embarrassment.

Nie Mingjue yells at everyone and tells Meng Yao that the more that these assholes talk shit about him, the more he has to achieve to make sure there's nothing they can say. Which is…pretty decent advice, sadly.

While Nie Mingjue delivers his lecture, Meng Yao mentally counts up how many guys he's going to be murdering later. Then Nie Mingjue pointedly promotes him to be his deputy General. Meng Yao thanks him formally and apparently sincerely.

Before we jump ahead to what happens next, let's talk about how this scene sets up the relationship between Nie Mingjue and Meng Yao. I think it's a super toxic relationship right from the get-go.

When I first watched this scene it played like a leader seeing the value in his subordinate, defending him from his peers, and elevating him as a reward for his hard work. But I think that's not really what we're seeing. Nie Mingjue's focus throughout this encounter is on the rest of his men; specifically on their unvirtuous behavior and his rage about it. He's using Meng Yao to teach them a lesson, and it seems like he elevates him above them not as a reward for himself, but as a punishment for them.

On the flip side, Meng Yao's lunchtime pity party seems a lot less spontaneous to me, now that I've seen so many other Wuxia & Xianxia dramas, than it did when I first fell into this CDrama rabbit hole. His meek, butthurt reaction to people talking shit about him is inappropriate for a cultivator or any fighter in the Jianghu. It's an entire culture based around fighting and responding to challenges. He definitely doesn't lack courage, so I think his meekness in this situation is crafted for its effect on Nie Mingjue.

Cloud Recesses Revisited

Let's have a flashback of our own, so we can compare this meeting with Meng Yao's first meeting with Lan Xichen, back in Episode 4.

When Meng Yao is presented, some Jiang sect douchebags in the back lay out his whole backstory in loud stage whispers. Lan Qiren quickly silences them -- without losing his temper, notably.

Even though he's a grumpy SOB who doesn't normally hesitate to yell at Wei Wuxian students, he does not embarrass Meng Yao by making a big deal of the situation; not even to say Gossip is Forbidden.

Lan Xichen then steps up and, smooth king that he is, drops the piece of gossip HE has heard about Meng Yao: "I've heard that Clan Leader Nie has a helpful assistant." Then he compliments the elegance of his speech, saying that he matches up to his expectations.

Then he strokes his fingers while he praises the gift he's brought. Then he grabs him and kisses him passionately in front of everyone Ahem. Pardon me.

Where Nie Mingjue's reaction to malicious gossip is to listen to every word of it and then make a big show of criticizing the people speaking, Lan Xichen moves to counteract it with praise, subtly shaming the gossipers in a way that genuinely uplifts Meng Yao. And he does it just because he's a nice guy who finds Meng Yao pleasing, not because he requires anything from him. Whereas Nie Mingjue appears to require quite a lot from Meng Yao.

Nie Mingjue's goal seems to be to improve Meng Yao in a fundamental way; to educate him and sort of force him onto the path of virtue. He also wants to use him to force his men onto the path of virtue...a path he himself does not, actually, walk.

Murder Will Out

Next we jump ahead to Meng Yao shanking the guard captain.

I think Nie Mingjue needs to overhaul his hiring practices because this dude is very easy to stab and perhaps should not be in charge of anything relating to combat. Maybe the "block" button on his game controller broke.

Note that Meng Yao picks up a saber to do this - not a Wen sword, but a Nie saber, which might be a props error, since later Nie Mingjue accuses him of deliberately using a Wen sword to disguise his actions.

We've seen these events before, back in episode 10, but the editing adds some things in the current episode, and removes others. Let's look at the differences.

1. Drunk Guard Captain

The night before this fight, there's a banquet and Meng Yao spends most of it making out with guarding Xue Yang. He does this by checking on him a bunch, which doesn't seem like it should be necessary in a fortress with a proper dungeon, but whatevs.

In Episode 10, we see Meng Yao briefly encounter the drunken, hostile guard captain, who shoulder-checks him and calls him son of a [sex worker], but otherwise we don't see any of their conversation.

In Episode 41, Nie Mingjue's head remembers a longer version of the encounter, with bonus vomiting. The captain tells Meng Yao he saw him talking to someone, asks what he's up to, accuses him of lying, and Meng Yao tells the captain's sidekick to put his drunk ass to bed.

This whole scene is HILARIOUS when you consider that this is Nie Mingjue's mental account of events, which means the Captain must have put everything we see in his report to the boss.

"Well, sir, I was incredibly drunk and vomiting in public near the Lan guest quarters when that twink that you like was seen talking to someone, so I roughed him up a bit and insulted his mother before I went to pass out from drunkenness. I hope you will reprimand him for his bad behavior."

That scene, in Episode 41, ends with Meng Yao all alone, straightening and brushing off his clothes and making his "I'm plotting your death" face.

Nie Mingjue sure does remember a lot of stuff he wasn't actually around to see. Maybe he's filling in gaps with everything he's heard during all the times Meng Yao has stood in front of his head-shelf and gloated out loud about stuff.

2. Wens Attack

In episode 10, Wen Chao and Wen Zhuliu bring some guys to attack the Unclean Realm. Meng Yao goes and stabs the guard captain while Nie Mingjue is in a melee 1-on-1 with Wen Zhuliu, which requires all of his focus and spinning.

Nie Mingjue glances to the side in a moment of respite and sees Meng Yao stabbing the guard captain; he promptly forgets about fighting Wen Zhuliu in order to go shout at Meng Yao.

Meng Yao pulls on a tee shirt that says "commmit to the bit" and proceeds to say "it wasn't me" over and over despite having been caught red-handed.

This distraction enables Wen Zhuliu to almost stab Nie Mingjue, but he's saved by Meng Yao throwing himself in the way of the blade. These people should learn to block with something besides their torsos.

In Episode 41, Nie Mingjue's head has forgotten that Wen Zhuliu was ever there, and doesn't focus on the other Wen dudes right in his eye line. He notices Meng Yao acting a tiny bit squirrely and stops fighting in order to go follow him. Like. Stops fighting to defend his fortress, seat of his power, family home, etc., because he doesn't trust his subordinate.

Did I mention the need to overhaul Nie Clan hiring practices? Also some management training wouldn't be out of place.

Nie Mingjue's head also remembers that Meng Yao smirked evilly while doing the stabbing.

It's cool that he had time to notice this and be shocked and appalled rather than, you know, moving quickly to intercept the blow or otherwise help his captain out.

Side note: Meng Yao doesn't wipe his saber when he's done with it. Aslan is sad now.

3. You're Fired

After the battle is resolved, we go to Nie Mingjue's office. In episode 10 we jump in with Meng Yao groveling on the floor while Nie Mingjue yells at him. In Episode 41, we learn that he's on the floor not because he put himself there, but because Nie Mingjue apparently kicked him and his recent chest wound across the room.

In Episode 10, Meng Yao makes it makes it clear that he killed the guard captain on purpose, and gives a pretty good list of reasons for killing him.

you promoted me to vice general, but he always looked down on me

insulting, beating, and humiliating me

taking credit for my achievements

he let Xue Yang go

Meng Yao says that he could tolerate the first two problems, but he 100% will not tolerate #3. It's not about personal pride, for him, it's about ambition.

There's always gonna be another mountain I'm always gonna wanna make it move Always gonna be an uphill battle Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose Ain't about how fast I get there Ain't about what's waiting on the other side It's the climb

The part about Xue Yang is bullshit, of course, but the rest seem like pretty okay reasons for killing the guy. I mean, in the world of the show, where justice is mostly determined by stabbing.

Nie Mingjue doesn't think pride in your own achievements is a good enough reason, and banishes him.

In Episode 41, Nie Mingjue remembers things differently; this time Meng Yao's justification is:

He let Xue Yang go

He wanted to kill me

He insulted my mother

This time, Nie Mingjue feels like it would be ok to kill the captain in a sudden moment of anger, but if that was how it went down, you wouldn't have an evil smirk on your face. Also, why pretend that Xue Yang did it and why use a Wen Sword? [it was clearly a Nie saber, bruh]

Nie Mingjue thinks he's been planning this for a long time, because the guard captain told him that Meng Yao was colluding with Xue Yang. Nie Mingjue has ALMOST figured out what's going on here, but his anger is making him stupid.

Instead of following through to the logical conclusion that Meng Yao is getting up to some shenanigans with Xue Yang, he focuses on his own hurt feelings, suspecting that Meng Yao was manipulating him from the beginning. Which, of course, he was, but Nie Mingjue was using Meng Yao, too. Red flags all around.

He wonders if Meng Yao would have killed the caveful of bullies if Nie Mingjue hadn't come to help him out. Which is ridiculous since Meng Yao was just sitting and having his lunch when NMJ showed up; if he felt like killing those guys it would be pretty simple to poison the water they were making him carry for them.

Nie Mingjue proceeds to banish Meng Yao not precisely for killing a guy without permission, but for having the wrong priorities and values. So he really shouldn't be surprised when Meng Yao goes to work for Wen Ruohan.

Soundtrack: The Climb, Alan Cumming version

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

twst 2023 valentine gift COMPLETE message compilation!!

Information about 2021 and 2022 TWST Valentine Gifts here! 2023's Valentine Gift is a macaron-like compact mirror. Character signatures here! 2021 Letters (text only) here! 2022 Letters (text only) here! 2023 Letters (text only) below the cut!! ***SPOILERS AHEAD!!***

Something interesting to note! The 2023 letters all seem to indicate that the sender's gift was something sweet and edible in nature. Previous years thanked the sender for their "gift", but did not typically indicate what the gift was.

Here is a brief example of what the letters look like this year before we get to the actual new contents of each (which are exact English transcriptions):

Heartslabyul

🌹 Riddle Thank you for the lovely sweets. I'll have them on my study breaks. If they're good, perhaps I'll set them out at a tea party. You'll certainly be invited if I do. After all, there's no rule that states you can't join in.

♣️ Trey Hello friend-- Thanks so much for the gift. It was exactly my taste, with just the right amount of sweetness. I can tell you thought a lot about what to get. I'll come up with a recipe based on these sweets sometime. I hope you'll get to taste test it for me.

♦️ Cater Eyyy, friendo! Sweets aren't normally my jam, but the ones you picked out were PERF--and they looked great too! You must've put in some WORK picking them out. So, thanks! I'll make sure to do the same for you!

❤️ Ace Heya, pal-- I kinda freaked when I saw you left a present at my door--in a good way! You actually sent me sweets! You could've just given them to me in person, you know. I haven't had any yet, but I'm sure they'll be great! We should share them at lunch tomorrow.

♠️ Deuce My good friend-- Thanks for the amazing gift! You got me those mega-popular sweets we just talked about, right? They were so good! It's kind of a shame I ate them all. Have you had any? I guess it'd be weird if I gifted you the same thing, but come shopping with me sometime and we can pick out some sweets for you.

Savanaclaw

🦁 Leona Hey-- You gave me SWEETS? I swear, sometimes I don't know what goes through that noggin of yours. I'll be nice and say I appreciate the sentiment... this time. But don't expect any glowing food reviews.

🐆 Ruggie Hey, 'sup. I got the sweets you sent! It's always a good day when someone gifts me food. These are supposed to be real popular right now, yeah? They must've been hard to snag. Shyeheehee, that makes them double good! Thanks a ton!

🐺 Jack Hi-- I was surprised when I smelled something sweet at my door. Consider your present received. I still can't believe you gave me such cutesy looking sweets. Not that I'm unhappy about it, of course. I actually like candy and stuff. Thanks.

Octavinelle

🐙 Azul My boon companion-- Thank you for the heartfelt gift. I suppose I owe it to you to partake of these sweets. Don't worry. Once I've analyzed the flavor, I'll gift you something equally delicious. After all, fair's fair.

🐬 Jade My good friend-- You've outdone yourself. Sweets that pair well with black tea? My deepest thanks. I'm flattered that you thought of me so when selecting them. You've inspired me. I'm going to spend my mountain hikes pondering just the right tea blend to suit your palate. I do hope you'll enjoy it.

🦈 Floyd Dear little shrimpy-- I saw your present. You got me candy? That rules! I was JUST in the mood for something sweet. I might not be tomorrow though, so I think I'll polish them off today. Thanks.

Scarabia

☀️ Kalim To my dear friend-- Thanks for the present! What colorful and sparkly sweets. They look delicious! I just had an idea! How about we eat them together after school? Gifts like this taste better when shared, after all. I'll pick out a good tea to go with them. Can't wait to see you later!

🐍 Jamil Hello-- I was surprised to see you gifted me sweets. At first I wondered if you were hinting for me to make you something similar... But when I pulled the gift out of the bag, I saw all the details you put into it, right down to the ribbon. It's clear this was a heartfelt gesture. I'll treasure these treats as I eat them. Thank you.

Pomefiore

👑 Vil Dearest friend-- Thank you for the gift. The sweets were dazzling and most attractive. Did you try to imagine what I'd like when picking them out? If you, you made an apt choice. I'll have something for you later in return.

🏹 Rook Bonjour, and merci beaucoup! What a lovely batch of confections! They're so darling that I'm tempted to stow them away in a brilliant bejeweled box. Ah, but I jest. I'll enjoy every morsel of this gift you've so thoughtfully bestowed upon me.

🍎 Epel Dear friend-- Thanks for the gift! Sweets from the city have a real fancy vibe, don't they? I'll savor every bite. I know this isn't exactly a gift, but I just scored some coupons for the cafeteria. Wanna join me for lunch tomorrow? Just wait for me, and I'll find you!

💀 Ignihyde

Idia Shroud @YOU huh? What the wha? im low-key scared here why would u give me sweets??? ig that sometimes i run low on sugar when ive been gaming too long and my aim becomes trash... ok sure, if this is ur way of looking out for me, ill take it

🤖 Ortho Shroud Hello, Prefect-- Thanks for the present! The sweets were very charming and cute, not to mention colorful. What neat designs! I'll make sure to save this as a special memory. I've run the data on their base ingredients, and hope to gift you some fitting sweets in return soon.

Diasomnia

🐉 Malleus Draconia To my dear friend-- Thank you. Never did I envision someone presenting me with the gift of sweet treats. It would be a shame for me to eat them all by myself. I think I'll share them with you. Would you be willing to provide the tea to go with them?

🦇 Lilia Vanrouge Greetings! Your present was delightful. The treats had a subtle sweetness that was perfect for a slightly mature fae like myself. I'll be making you a lovely treat in return, using a very special recipe of mine. I hope you'll enjoy it.

💤 Silver Salutations-- Thanks for the gift. I read once that sugar can boost your concentration. Did you give me these to snack on when I'm about to nod off during my studies? That was very considerate of you. I think I'll try them out today.

⚡️ Sebek Zigvolt Human-- I've received your gift. It was agreeably sweet. In fact, it might've been sweet enough to make black coffee bearable... But I digress. Regardless, I was somewhat impressed with your choice. You have my thanks.

NRC Staff + Grim

🎭 Dire Crowley Dear esteemed student-- Thank you for the delicious gift. And don't bother telling me I was supposed to share it--I've already finished the whole package! If you wish for the staff to also partake, I suggest you acquire more treats. But don't worry, I won't say a word if you give the same gift twice. I'm kindhearted like that!

🐶 Divus Crewel Dear pup-- Is this a gift for the staff? Excellent. Now that I have some treats to sweeten my breaks, I'll be able to grade your exams with a much more critical eye. I can see the grimace on your face now. Relax, it was a joke. It's usually frowned upon for dogs to be the ones buying fits, but since you're such a loyal pup, I'll let you off. I'm a generous trainer, after all.

📚 Mozus Trein Dear juvenile-- I must wonder why you decided to get me a present. Is this your way of thanking me for my lecture the other day? If so, gifts are hardly necessary. It's a teacher's job to educate students with a thirst for knowledge. I can't accept any offerings from students, but the sentiment is much appreciated. I expect nothing but excellence from you moving forward.

💪 Ashton Vargas Dear student-- Thanks for the present! Excessive sugar is a no-go when building a beautiful bod, but it'd be bad form for let your thoughtful gesture go to waste. Such is the price of popularity. I'll just have to accept that and work off everything I eat. Keep up those reps!

🎩 Sam Yo, little imp! What is UP? Thanks so much for the gift! You've got a real eye for quality. I'll make sure to stock up on goods that'll pique your interest, so swing by the shop soon!

🐱 Grim Dear hench-human-- Mraaah! Is this ALL for me?! I've never seen such sparkly, yummy-lookin' candy before! I feel like a king! But I'd feel bad leavin' you out of this sugar extravaganza, so I GUESS you can have a small piece. I'm lookin' forward to more gifts, partner!

[sugar-grigri]

What would happen if we killed death ?

Here we are, Chapter 150, so let's not waste any more time and get straight to the analysis. 

This chapter is rich, incredibly rich, both in what it says and in the way it is presented. This time I'm going to tackle the visuals directly in the first part of the chapter.

As you've probably gathered by now, this chapter deals with the evolution of Denji's dream, as the title clearly indicates.

What's interesting is to see how it plays out visually. The alleyway is a visual element that has been used several times by Fujimoto to signify a period in Denji's life, his childhood.

It metaphorically represents not only an unhappy childhood and loneliness, but also the gap between a needy child ignored by society. Worse still, he is excluded. When Denji emancipates himself, the focus is on passers-by, on others. As Denji symbolically leaves the alleyway, he realises that he is now part of society. His dream of a normal life should be understood as a desire to live in a community, among others, and to make friends with them. 

In other words, getting out of the alley is Denji's lifelong dream, the key to his self-fulfilment and to a certain path forward. 

It's a metaphor that Fujimoto loves once again. In this illustration, for example, Aki and Power are heading towards the light while Denji is still in the shadows. Bathed in light, Aki and Power represent both a key to Denji's happiness and fulfilment, just as the light represents the end of a journey: their destiny, the end of their own lives. 

This illustration is extraordinary because Denji's gaze is fixed backwards, towards the alleyway, focusing on his flaws and his past. He is unaware, because he is not looking at them, that the key to his fulfilment has already been found, that he is in the process of leaving the alleyway. What's more, even if this means the end of Power and Aki's existence, they are serene, as if they know that happiness, even without them, will await Denji. 

That's my first comment, so let's move on to what's happening in terms of action and dialogue. 

Nayuta focuses on ordinary life, which helps Denji realise that he has reached it. It may seem odd that Denji is only just realising this now, but he is someone who operates by the senses. Moving away from the alley visually helps him realise his emancipation, as does seeing these ordinary people.

But above all, if Denji didn't entirely realise it, it's also because he wasn't happy in this ordinary life, as the last arc showed. Torn by the fact that he was no longer Chainsaw Man, Denji didn't realise that he was ordinary because he thought that was what would make him happy, and as he wasn't, he didn't think that his dream had been achieved for some time. It may sound complex, but once again it makes a lot of sense when you realise that Denji is someone who functions by sensation. 

But it's even more subtle than that: Denji had realised that he was getting closer to his dream, but that wasn't why he allowed himself to dream about something else. And that's precisely where the power of this chapter lies: it's by starting to dream of something else that he reconnects with his identity, because the contract between him and Pochita is the pursuit of a dream. In other words, Denji was not only Chainsaw Man to protect Nayuta from the public hunters, he was no longer Chainsaw Man because he no longer allowed himself to dream. Until then, Chainnaw Man was an empty shell.

When Denji says he wants to become Chainsaw Man, he means he now wants to dream.

We come to the figure of the raven crushed by Denji as he runs: what does it mean? 

One possible interpretation is that we don't know. I'm not saying this to clear my name, but because I think that's its real symbolism. In the West, the raven is generally a sign of bad omens, whereas in other cultures, such as Japanese or Celtic, the raven is the symbol of a god, the sun in Japan. Even if we could associate the raven with the metaphor of light coming out of the alleyway, the fact remains that it is not an animal that is appreciated or venerated in Japan, notably for the fact that it is a vulture that picks through rubbish.

It's this ambiguity that the raven represents, something that can't be pinned down. It's interesting, because by trampling on it, Denji turns to another dream, is it a good omen or a bad one? No one knows whether claiming to be Chainsaw Man will help Denji find happiness. 

That would be one possible interpretation. But for the sake of completeness, there is one last one. 

When I say that symbolism is hard to establish, it's only when I refute an obvious one. Let me explain: whether it's Bucky and his death, Yoru and Asa's death, the birds and Yuko being killed by Fake!CSM, and finally that raven. It's obvious that not only the raven but the bird in general represents death but also the end of a period, an era, a cycle.

Not only do the birds mark the end of one cycle, they also signal the beginning of a new one. Bucky's death opens Part 2, Yoru marks the beginning of Asa's second life, and Yuko's death ushers in the arrival of the most mysterious character in Part 2: Fake!CSM. The Raven marks the beginning of a new dream.

I think we need to be more subtle in this analysis and see it through to the end. Asa and Denji both do the same thing, they either crush birds or they give death to death.

It seems impossible but just as the bird that is supposed to fly in the skies is rarely found under our feet to be crushed. Asa and Denji are the two champions, the two candidates to prevent Death, and little by little the birds mark the cogs in a mechanism that is being put in place: the confrontation with Death. 

My various interpretations can add up, and when they do, they lead to one question: when we give death to death, what happens? Is it necessarily a bad thing ?

The fact that the birds symbolise a link with death is correlated with the fact that Denji loses his family and his dogs when his flat burns down. The destruction of his home represents the erasure of Denji's landmarks, what he had built up, returning to the cause of departure, since we are at the beginning of a new era, a new cycle. 

The relationship with death is correlated by Barem, who not only intends to fight it but also sees it as a common denominator for all species. 

I love the play on words that the flamethrower hybrid introduces: "I figure killing Asa wouldn't fire you up that much", it really supports Barem's desire to arouse Denji and get him to react. 

But all that aside, there are other things to relate. Not least with our other protagonist: Asa.

To return to the metaphor of the alley, visually and symbolically, she's the one who joined Denji in the alley. She's not just a symbol of Denji's step towards others, but also a symbol of others' step towards him. 

Fujimoto encourages us to reread the chapters using the key vectors of the dog and the cat.

This line is the centrepiece. 

Not only does Barem support the death once again of Denji's family, his dogs and his cat, but it's much more subtle than that. They are the key to a love that is not only universal, but also the key to Asa and Denji's happiness, and to their ability to bond with other species. When Denji wanted to save Asa from the falling devil, he told her straight away to think of cats and dogs. 

They are also a symbol of progress, Asa bonding with her cat after the death of her mother, while Denji bonds with Pochita after the death of his father. 

They are also what unites the two protagonists of Chainsaw Man: a cat with Asa and a dog with Denji. Just as Fujimoto likes to emphasise the influence they have on each other, whether it's Asa who places Denji between the criminal and the cat or how Yoru will behave like a dog because of Nayuta. 

So what does Barem's line clearly mean? What I find incredible is that every time Barem tries to put Denji against the wall, he always unconsciously provides an element of the answer. 

At their first meeting in chapter 140: Barem tries to present Denji with a dilemma. Asa Mitaka or Chainsaw Man? The answer is unconsciously found in the two fingers he plunges into Denji's nose: both. 

Here again, Barem thinks he has Denji pegged, it's not Asa that matters to him but his dogs and cat. But note the plural, Denji only has one cat, Meowy. Now we make the connection: Asa represents the cat. She's also important to Denji. 

If you're not convinced by Barem's unconscious response, then here again you can see a parasitic gesture in the fact that he knocks Denji down. Who else always falls at the wrong time? Who fell when their family was also dying? Well, yes. Barem's only point here is that even if Asa and Denji don't know each other very well, they don't really need to, given their similarities.

Once again, Barem thinks he's cornering Denji when he doesn't realise that he's just included Asa in what he's saying. Once again this is symbolic writing, with elements of foreshadowing and denouement of the characters subtly placed in Barem's lines. Barem likes to make prophetic announcements, as he is also a believer, but his message escapes him because he is not aware of the work in which he finds himself.

But that doesn't help us to understand what happens when we kill death ?

The characters can't guess at the omens that lie ahead. Just as their own message eludes them. 

The only thing we know for sure that these birds are announcing is the end of an era and a new era.

The answer is so obvious that it escapes us. We have seen the resemblance between these two protagonists, their families, their losses, the destruction of their homes, their landmarks. We could say that this would be mourning.

But moving on despite the end of all these cycles, without knowing what lies ahead. Isn't that just growing up?

[chelledoggo]

okay, so... you know what i would LOVE to see?

a deconstruction of "conservative cartoons" like Mr. Birchum or The New Norm... BUT, it deceptively markets itself as a straightforward conservative cartoon.

like, here's what i'm thinking:

we got your white, old-fashioned, masculine husband protagonist, a centrist, openminded wife, and a couple of children. one of the kids would probably be a dudebro son who aligns more with their dad's beliefs, while the other would be your stereotypical "blue-haired nonbinary progressive activist."

you'd, of course, also have your token "non-woke minority friends" to the main character: the black conservative, the disabled veteran, the "not like the other gays" gay man, etc...

they all live in a suburban neighborhood. their kids attend a public school, where the teacher is your stereotypical "liberal soyboy wokie" (a la Mr. Karponzi from Mr. Birchum), and is presented as the "main antagonist."

episode one starts out straightforward, with no indication of it being a deconstruction or subversive, in order to lull the conservative audience into a false sense of security.

we get the introduction to these characters, their conflicts, etc... the husband complains about how "soft" and "woke" society is becoming and reminisces about "the good old days." the first major conflict would probably be CRT or pronouns in the classroom or something.

but starting from episode 2, we start seeing the MC deconstruct and question himself. the little hints of deconstruction would start out small and subtle, like he might just take pause at an opinion he had and think "hmmmm... this feels right to me, but... i wonder... was i too harsh?"

and then with each episode the MC starts to reflect on his upbringing with a strict authoritarian father and a meek, submissive mother who always seemed unhappy. he slowly starts to realize that he was manipulated and coerced into being "a real man" by his abusive father.

he starts to think to himself "okay, WHY do i dislike progressives? WHY do i have a problem with 'safe spaces?' don't vulnerable people deserve to feel safe, even though i never did? and WHY do i have a problem with trans and nonbinary people? yeah, it's a little odd to me, but they're not harming anyone."

as he reflects and deconstructs the outdated beliefs he had engrained in him, he finds himself growing a closer bond with his nonbinary kid, while also realizing he needs to start teaching his dudebro son to be a respectful and non-toxic man.

by the end of the season/series, he finally admits to those around him that he's not proud of who he'd been in the past, and although he still has a long way to go and will probably have to spend the rest of his life unlearning his old ways, he's going to try his best to do right by those around him.

someone should get on this. at the very least it would be funny as fuck to watch conservatives melt down, while at best it would be a beautiful narrative on how we need to examine our beliefs.

[lightofraye]

who made you the arbiter of Jensen's life choices? he's the one living with them and all this "jensen supportive" and "jensen concern" is a self-indulgent exercise in spreading hatred and negativity to make yourself feel better. i don't know what you are claiming to be paying attention to when you don't take his words of love and support at face value. twisting his words and hating on his wife and friend is not "real respect". at best, you're prying. at worst, you're wrong and hateful.

Hello anon.

Sigh. Okay.

I’m aware you won’t believe me when I say I’m genuinely supportive of Jensen, of his career and his life, and I pay attention to all aspects—not just his words. I see the paleness, the haggard look on his face that y’all missed last year. I see the strain in his smiles. I pay attention to how he fidgets when he talks about Danneel, the lack of specifications when he tells stories about that—which, by the way, are indicators of false stories, not real ones.

What you so-called stans miss are all that. You’re in denial all the time. Even the worst of photos, all the comments I see are “He’s soooo handsome!” “He’s looking sooooo good!” And I have to twitch and go “Really? With those lines of strain and unhappiness?”

And I’m not the only one. See… non-fanatical fans and even outsiders notice it too. They’re genuinely baffled at y’all insisting Danneel and Jensen have great chemistry and are beautiful together when their kisses are as cold as fishes, when their body language is of him pulling away from her and her pulling him back to her.

When y’all are ignoring every mean thing Danneel says by excusing it as “she’s just joking!” and yet there’s no sincerity anywhere else…. I question what y’all think is real love.

I’ve never heard him say anything about her being supportive of his career aside from “Go get work, no vacation for us!” Or: “Don’t whine to me, go cry at Kripke!”

I’ve never heard him tell stories of loving, sweet moments of just the two of them in bed (no, not about sex, geez), just reminiscing about something funny or sweet with the kids that day. Because there surely should be ONE moment like that.

I’ve never heard of him once saying she was there for him after the Rust shooting. When he had to excuse her lack of support and presence due to a fear of flying—which was never mentioned before, ever.

It’s immensely telling that there’s a lack of that. I’ve followed couples on other social media married longer than the Ackles, or together longer than the Ackles, and their stories read VERY genuine and real.

The Ackles’ do not. Period.

I have many reasons to dislike Danneel, all of them stemming from her actual behavior. It’s legitimate. She’s an abuser; I refuse to support abusers.

Jensen is separate from Danneel. Yes, it’s actually possible to do that. Y’all just don’t like the fact I point out her abusive shit because you want to remain in denial.

I do respect Jensen. I do care about him. I do support him.

It’s the rest of you—and Danneel—that don’t.

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for trying to find someone who blocked me?

I (f early 20's) made a tumblr account almost a year ago, mainly just to vent about petty discourse and what not. I made a bunch of friends and many of them I'm still in contact with this day. One of them was named H (early 20's X). H and I quickly struck up a friendship and we exchanged other social media handles as well. We talked almost daily, mostly about mundane stuff or complaining about tumblr users or sending funny memes. Nothing out of the ordinary.

About a month or so ago they opened up donations and even said they'd take some commissions to help them move to their partner's house. I donated a some money (not saying the amount but its somewhere between 40-55 bucks) because I got back money from my university and i wanted to help out a friend. They said they'd send over examples and that was it

After not hearing from them for a while, I tried to check on them and found they blocked me everywhere. I was shocked. There was ZERO indication that they were unhappy with me or I had said something wrong. I also realized they blocked me the day (or day after) I sent them the money

My friends think that I got scammed but I don't believe it. They'd been talking to me and posting about needing money for weeks before commissions went up. I combed through our messages to see if I said or did something wrong. Nothing. A close friend of mine said I should try to refund the money or expose them. Im not gonna do that because this is a private matter. However, I want answers. I know I'm not entitled to any sort of explanation, especially from someone who was technically an internet stranger, but it would have been nice.

What are these acronyms?

[canonicallyobserving911]

Both T.K.'s were/are bad for Buck!

Unpopular opinion: Since the start of the hiatus, it's been interesting to see all the takes on the two separate but equally bad BT relationships (BuckTaylor and BuckT*mmy). Both T.K.'s were/are PLOT DEVICES!

Some have posted that Taylor and Buck could have been endgame when her character was clearly written to be anything but that. She became completely unrecognizable by 5x6 especially in 5x7 when she had practically a whole episode dedicated to her arrested development of a childhood and she got more screen time in season 5 than most of the mains, i.e., Eddie, Bobby and Chimney!

But I digress...

I completed a post about the two T.K.'s before 7x4 aired and I said it then, I don't think T*mmy has changed one bit the same way Taylor didn't and I still believe that.

Back in seasons 4 and 5 most people hated the way Taylor treated Buck. She called him needy in 4x8 and in 4x14 and 5x17, she talked to him the same way Margaret still does (related post & post). She got worse in season 5 especially when she promised him that she wouldn't leak that story about Jonah and she told Hen and Chimney it was "off the record". Reminder, Buck got interrogated by Chief Alonzo for that.

Also, TAYLOR WAS NEVER IN LOVE WITH HIM. Please understand just because a person says "I love you" to someone, that doesn't make it true. She didn't know what love was and neither did Buck. Reminder, he didn't define what love means to him until 5x18, right before he broke up with her (related post) and his definition was SOLELY ABOUT EDDIE! (When you're at your worst and they're at their worst...)

But it's sarcastically hilarious how two seasons later and Buck haphazardly falls into another IDK, whatever the "F" he's in with T*mmy and opinions about the way Taylor treated Buck have completely changed. She's being held up as his most important and long lasting relationship. While it's true she was there for an entire season, they're relationship was toxic and Buck was UNHAPPY the entire time he was in the loft with her. Some are saying she could have been it for Buck if the WrItErS would have written better storylines for her. Additionally, there are several who think they would have been good friends or BeStiEs but be clear, Taylor and Buck were never friends, they were Frienemies which means they used each other to get what they wanted. It started out like that in season 2 and it ended the same way.

Fast forward to season 7 and T*mmy's being written the same way she was and their characters are so much alike that it's uncanny. She kissed Buck in his loft and ran and T*mmy did the same thing. But some takes have indicated that T*mmy is worse than Taylor but I beg to differ because IMO, they were/are both BAD FOR BUCK. T*mmy is just as dismissive, rude, annoying, belittling and obnoxious if not more than Taylor was and they've both said horrible things to him. Just because he's a man doesn't make it worse or better because Taylor and T*mmy are both $hitty characters for him.

Neither of the T.K.'s appeared/appear to even like Buck and all they wanted/want to do was/is use him for his "Firehose". They've both been rude to him and they've both had undeserved redemption arcs. But remember Taylor really wasn't actually redeemed (related post) and by the end of 5x17, she showed the audience who she really was, a third rate journalist who was still trying to climb the corporate ladder so she could be an anchorwoman (which she never attained but she did write a raggedy book and it seems she used Buck and the 118 to get the info she put in it).

Since T*mmy didn't get a proper redemption, it's clear he hasn't been redeemed either and it's likely he hasn't changed. Hen and Chimney don't trust him, Maddie doesn't like him and EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW how Eddie feels about both of them.

HE HATES THEM AND HIS EYES ARE ALWAYS THE WINDOWS TO HIS SOUL. THEY NEVER LIE!

By the end of season 5, Taylor showed the audience she hadn't changed when she threw the entire 118 under the bus just like she wanted to do in 2x6 when they were all "Dosed" and it's likely the new T.K. will do the same thing now that his father figure Gerard is back.

One more thing, Taylor's dad was convicted of killing her mother and T*mmy doesn't get along with his dad so WTF are they trying to say about Buck and the way he sees his own parents? I still don't believe Phillip is Buck's bio dad but hey... the Buckleys got an undeserved redemption arc too just like a lot of others.

#FreeBuckFromTheseHorribleLoveInterests

I ONLY SHIP BUDDIE!

DO NOT REBLOG THIS POST WITH AN OPPOSING OPINION. IF YOU LIKE EITHER BT RELATIONSHIP THEN WRITE A POST ON YOUR BLOG AND GUSH OVER THESE TRAIN WRECK RELATIONSHIPS!

IF YOU TRY IT, YOU'LL BE BLOCKED!

[azrielgreen]

I feel like no matter how hard I try I can’t get over jealousy and insecurity and constantly comparing myself to other writers in the fandom. It’s either I don’t write enough, or I don’t write fast enough, I don’t write interesting or unique enough. If I get kudos, someone gets more, if I get comments, someone gets more thoughtful comments. It’s like a dark spiral in my brain. Do you have any tips on pushing through despite all the inner turmoil and noise? I’d be very grateful for your help!! 🖤

Hello, love, I'm sorry for the delay in answering. I wanted to give your Ask the proper attention in answering it.

Comparison is the death of joy.

I think jealousy and comparison in fandom is rife and no matter how much positivity and success someone projects, they too have had their dark moments comparing hit counters and kudos. In a fandom of THIS size it's deeply unhealthy, I personally believe, for us all to be so interconnected and visible.

I also believe that writers should write for themselves and the joy of creating something and crafting it, never expressly FOR the outcome of comments/attention but of course, that's becoming the norm now. People write to be popular. I see so many people at this point in the fandom not getting anywhere near the same amount of interactions they were a year ago, so comparisons and jealousy unfortunately become widespread, and equally, cliques begin to form to police the remaining attention as it slowly simmers down.

My tips for pushing through this would be first and foremost, write for yourself. Keep your true passion alive by writing what you fucking LOVE! Writing for other people will only ever go so far because attention wanders, interest fades and hyperfixations dissolve. If you write for yourself first, and share second, then you'll always be true to your inner creator and you'll always have ideas, passions and authentic stories coming alive inside you.

Secondly, and I know how hard this is for people, but stop comparing as much as you can. There will always be someone who has more than you and there are people who have less than you. Writing is art, art is to make people feel things they would not otherwise feel. To provoke humanity and lead us towards self exploration. To give comfort, empathy, guidance, joy, cathartic heartbreak and much more! I think so much of the true meaning of writing has been lost by the imposing domination of social media in fandom. I always recommend people trying to find that spark again, that little flash of magic that reminds you why you started.

And thirdly, this is hardest to hear, I know, but when you feel like this, it's usually a good indication to take a break. When you feel anxious, unhappy or low, you're going the wrong way. Move away from what is causing this, especially if it's anything on the internet - a dangerous and often toxic microcosm with an echo chamber effect.

Writing in real life is a beautiful thing, too.

Write something just for you, don't tell anyone, then orphan it, never read the comments, and move on. Rekindle your passion however you can, romanticise your methods, find new sources of inspiration and above all, please, have fun! and if you're not having fun in fandom - a place intended for fun and fuck all else - then please, take a break, love. Nothing is more important than your mental health.

P.S - also take into a account how MASSIVELY skewed A03 stats are due to longevity/legacy fics. There is ✨NO WAY ON EARTH✨ if I posted YD today it would make it into the top 1000 fics out of 24k and that would be wonderful still, that has always been my experience in the past. No comparison is ever justified or solid and it is truly the death of joy. Write for you, for your friends, and the people who will read it in 10 years time who NEED it. Nothing else matters.

💜💜💜

[crusherthedoctor]

Hey everyone. It's been a while once again. And it's going to remain a while, because I've decided to actually leave.

No, this is not a joke. The fact that it's already been over a month since I last posted should indicate that I'm serious about this, and that this is not merely another two week hiatus. I didn't post about it until now because after the last hiatus, I didn't want to repeat my words from that again. That and because I didn't think it was worth it, cause it's me we're talking about. Eventually though, I felt conflicted over leaving people in the dark about it, so here I am finally clarifying for anyone who would want to know for some reason.

But I mean... what is there to say that I haven't said a hundred times before. I've tried to keep going. I've really tried. But I just don't have it in me to keep posting for the sake of it anymore, with the way things currently are. I have no motivation.

The Sonic discourse and the negative effects it's had on everyone, myself included.

The growing alienation as the vast majority of the current direction and especially the neverending SA2 milking which is guaranteed to keep going so long as it continues to get the initial hyped reactions they're banking on, as seen with the SXS animation and manga gives me little to latch onto, all while the few things of recent that I have had real, unironic interest in have been declared by the vocal majority to be either worth basically ignoring, or are actively considered Bad Actually.

The crisis of faith, as dramatic as it may be to refer to it as such, as I see everyone around me continue to cheer on Eggman's character assassination, and insisting that I'm actually just a gigantic moron who doesn't understand nuance for not seeing the infinite IQ chess going on that isn't fucking there because the execution continuously contradicts the supposed intentions on both Flynn's and SEGA's parts.

The endless and often way too personal abuse in private, and occasionally public, that I'm forced to deal with for not having the so-called right takes, and the unspoken expectation that I just have to suck it up because "it's what Sonic would do".

The struggle to start discussions for other media I'm invested in (ie: Spyro, Paper Mario, etc) during this Sonic alienation, because I'm apparently hopeless at starting them on here.

The constant frustration I feel towards the numerous double standards on the site, and how no one ever learns from them despite how many times they have egg on their face for it.

The internal hatred I feel towards myself for aspects about me beyond my control that are usually painted in a soul crushing light when brought up in discussions one way or the other (ie: autism), especially when it's evident they know nothing about it and thus overcompensate by pulling the "umm ackshully it's the worst thing ever and is a burden on everyone else around them, happy to help!" card.

The fear eating away at me that my writing isn't enough, that I have no place in the community anymore, and whether I really had a place to begin with. All I have is me... and me isn't enough. Doesn't feel like enough, anyway.

I've said all of this so many times. I'm sick of saying it so many times. But nothing changes. Nothing ever fucking changes. I go away for a couple of weeks, come back because I lie to myself that I should, and the cycle repeats. I want to be the best person I can be on here, but I can't do that if I keep having no motivation and only feel apathy or irritation. I don't want to let all of this turn me into someone worse.

So I have two options. Either I continue to endure this miserable cycle, I grow more disillusioned and unhappy still, and I risk making an arsehole of myself due to yet more stress and fatigue... or I get away from it all. I know which one sounds healthier. Some might call it giving up. Letting the people that hate me win. But I don't know what else I can do in my situation. I can't keep doing this for its own sake. I can't. I just can't. Not when I only serve as the resident grumpy killjoy.

We'll see if I have a reason to start again when the Year of Shadow is over. Until then though, I'm out.

See ya.

[goodtoyous]

The Trouble With Tagging

Tagging in fandom is useful, but ultimately detrimental because of how people are using it.

When I shop online for shoes, tagging is what lets me filter my view to white sneakers in size 7.5. But there are other attributes I look for in shoes. Maybe I want shoes with widely-spaced holes so they aren’t too tight when I lace them. Maybe I want to buy soles that aren’t too thick because I think that makes them clunky. And there will be other people who have these preferences too, so that must mean they’re useful classifications to have!

So it should be in a company’s best interest to provide me a way to find white sneakers in size 7.5 with widely-spaced holes, thinner soles, and whatever else I want in my shoes. Because otherwise it’s just a waste of time for me to buy something and return it later when I don’t like it, right?

No. Absolutely not.

I can’t ask for all the shoes that aren’t red to be tagged as #Not Red. I can’t ask for all shoes to be tagged #Loose Around the Ankles, when that isn’t a universal metric. The best way for me to find the shoes I want, and maybe this is still somehow controversial but I can’t imagine how, is to go into the store MYSELF and either try on shoes until I find ones I like, or ask a salesperson to help me.

Yet, somehow, people fail to see how this applies to tagging.

Back in the days of cable television, when a show was about to start, you’d see a rating and a content warning. ‘Viewer discretion is advised’, and maybe a few more words on what kind of content to expect: crude language, sexual situations, or graphic violence. We still use variations of those ratings and contents warnings on AO3 today, and they are very useful, standardized indicators.

Writers would use these indicators, and it was understood certain ratings would contain adult topics. There was nuance there, and room for interpretation, and responsibility on the reader’s side for monitoring their own content consumption.

In fandom, we coined our own terms to help enforce the idea that fanfiction was a free space for everyone to write what they wanted. ‘Don’t like; don’t read’ (DL;DR) is a common term that has perhaps become less common over the years, and has lost some of the meaning it used to have.

DL;DR does not mean ‘we, the writers, will warn for every topic that this work will include so you can avoid it’. What it meant was, if you read a story and came across something you didn’t like, you would stop reading. It did not have to be something triggering, it could just be something you didn’t like. You would hit the back button and that was the end of it.

Using tags became a way to include additional information on a story so that people could avoid certain topics more easily. So that back button didn’t need to be hit quite as often. Nowadays, I feel as though people have begun to see it as a requirement.

People will preach about wanting to avoid content they don't want, but you have always been able to do that from the very beginning. You always have the option to close the tab, to stop reading.

‘I wouldn’t have read this if I had known ___’ is a complaint most writers are not unfamiliar with. Readers complain about having wasted their time on stories that were ‘disappointing’, ‘problematic’, or ‘misleading’, simply because there is an aspect of a story they disagree with.

If a story doesn’t have ‘Unhappy Ending’ slapped on it, readers hold the author responsible for their emotional response. If one topic isn’t tagged, the author is somehow at fault for being ignorant, insensitive, or irresponsible.

It is grossly misleading to approach this by assuming authors are acting incorrectly, or possess malicious intent for not including a tag. Simplifying fiction by categorizing it into tags is exactly what that is, simplifying it. Maybe it isn’t tagged because it's a spoiler. Maybe the author didn't think it was an important aspect of the story. Maybe they just forgot!

If an author is mistagging and misrepresenting their work, that is a different story that is subject to different nuances. But it is not a requirement, unspoken or otherwise, to include a tag, because this isn’t how reading works! There is a reason why 'Creator Chose Not to Use Archive Warnings' exists, and that is because tags are for an author to classify their own work how they see fit. It is their choice!

People have been trained by social media into not curating their own content; they let algorithms and FYPs do it for them, and when they see something they don't like, they blame it on the person who posted it.

"How dare anyone encroach on this public space with something I don't want to see!"

So I ask you this: does an author’s opinions and desires on how their work is presented not matter? Are authors shackled to public opinion irregardless of what they believe is most important about their own creation? Should creative control be fully relinquished because people who had nothing to do with a work's creative process believe they know better?

If your answer to that last question isn’t a firm, resounding NO, then you are admitting you feel more entitled to a creator’s work than the actual creator.

Society has evolved to no longer value art for being art, but value art only if it is able to conform to various labels for commodified consumption. Yet there is no faster way to kill true art than to try and cram it into a billion tiny little boxes.

Fiction is subjective. Tastes are subjective. Tagging is useful, but it isn’t everything. Take responsibility for the content you consume. Stop asking people to pick out your shoes for you, and go try some on for yourself.

[confessbeatles]

i think that the fandom is overly harsh on george and mo for their affair.

i'm not saying it was right but i've never seen anyone seriously wonder why they did it. why would maureen cheat on ringo when she'd never done it before? even when he was cheating on her?

there's been details here and there which have indicated a whole story we're missing. ringo was deep into alcohol and cocaine and they had young children. maureen was scared and worried about him. they argued a lot. there's a 70s interview where he says he and mo had effectively been broken up for years before their divorce and they slept in separate beds. they stayed together for the kids.

in george's case he was very depressed, his marriage to pattie was a disaster and seemed to genuinely believe he was in love with maureen which wasn't the case with his other affairs.

again, i don't say this to mean it was fine what they did and they shouldn't be criticized. but i don't think it's fair that it's never considered the story was more complicated than it's been made out to be just like many other beatle drama cases. the two people who actually know what happened never got a chance to share their side.

I have to respectfully disagree on the “we shouldn’t criticize it” part. We can and should acknowledge that it was a shitty thing to do; not only to ringo obviously but to Pattie. George was unnecessarily cruel to Pattie imo. When she found Maureen on a mattress on the floor in George’s room, all he dared to say to Pattie was “oh she’s a bit tired, she’s having a rest” and couldn’t at the bare minimum admit that he was sleeping with her when he clearly was. I know cheating isn’t the worst thing that a human can do but to me, the problem was how he acted. He could’ve simply just told Pattie he was unhappy and got divorced and that would be that. I love George to death, he’s human and I get things are more complicated on the inside, but saying that we shouldn’t criticize or acknowledge it doesn’t make sense to me. Just like we should criticize and acknowledge ringo for being an abusive drunk for a while, or Johns violence, or Paul’s misogyny, ect.

[starbylers]

How Mike, Will & El's season 4 intro sequences are all connected (and what that says about the love triangle)

The first we see of Will is him painting. We know how significant that painting is, it’s a representation of his love for Mike. Literally his entire story this season.

The first shot we see of El begins with her “Mike box”, also an expression of her feelings towards Mike, a large part of her character arc this season. I think it’s important to notice that unlike Will, El isn’t actually shown working on the box; instead the first thing we see her doing is intently painting her Hopper figurine and facing the opposite direction.

Both of their intros are clearly a nod to their emotional conflicts involving Mike:

Will's is showing that he's trying to hide and express his feelings for Mike simultaneously. He's very visually obscured in these shots, and we obviously only see snippets of the painting, it's meant to create an atmosphere of secrecy—but at the same time there's super close-ups of his eyes/face and hands, which also gives an impression of intimacy. So we've got secrecy and intimacy as themes pertaining to his feelings surrounding this painting aka his feelings surrounding Mike.

El's is showing that she's idealising and romanticising her relationship; having a sort of shrine to her boyfriend proudly on display meanwhile we know she's a) been lying to him and b) is actually upset with him. Also, the mini Hopper she’s busy creating may be a hint as to what she really wants/needs emotionally underneath the showiness of her “love” for Mike i.e. having her dad back.

El & Will's intros are both visual representations of where their heads are at concerning romance aka concerning Mike. They're both keeping secrets but choosing different methods to cover them up. Will is more literally hiding; hiding his painting from El, hiding his feelings in the painting, whereas El is sort of embellishing and overcompensating for the unhappiness she's feeling about Mike (and life in general, including Hopper's death). Also, the very first thing we see both Will and El doing is painting but while Will’s is about his feelings towards Mike, El’s is about her (familial) feelings towards Hopper. I just thought that was an interesting comparison.

And then we have Mike. The pattern should follow that Mike’s intro shot/sequence is also a hint as to where he stands in this triangle, where he's at emotionally and mentally concerning his girlfriend and best friend. Or more specifically what secrets he is keeping about them, just as they are about him.

There he is…reading El’s letter...decorated with rainbows. We are shown literal rainbows (!!) right before the camera pans to his face. Where he is framed perfectly in the open closet.

Of course this stuff is well known already and the symbolic implications are obvious, but thinking about it in relation to Will & El’s intro sequences just makes it's significance even more clear. A few things:

Mike's face, in fact most of his body, is extremely obscured by shadow. This would be an odd choice for the very first shot of one of the main characters in the very first episode, if not symbolising that something about Mike is being hidden this season. And we know it has to be related to El & Will—they're his entire plot. Also it just tracks with the theme of secret-keeping established not just with El & Will but literally every other character on the show.

It's a letter from El sure, but as opposed to El & Will's intros we don't have any overt indicators of how he's feelings towards her. All we have is him reading meanwhile there’s rainbows right under his nose and a closet at the back of his head. Lol.

It’s more telling what Mike doesn't do, the stuff you have to pay attention to realise. In the next shot we see that unlike El he doesn't have a trace of her in his room, only the letter which he promptly crumples up and throws on the floor.

We see El's feelings towards Mike. We see Will's feelings towards Mike. And then we see Mike thoughtlessly discard El’s expression of feelings to him, whilst having no expression of his feelings toward her to speak of. Along with the 🚪/🌈 symbolism? Oh I can't wait for season 5.

[sokkastyles]

Hi,

Hope you are doing well. Thank you for the response on EIP.

I was reading the post made by tumblr user @sneezypeasy on the script of The Last Airbender regarding Kataang. One thing that caught me was the Day of Black Sun kiss between Aang and Katara. In the script, after the surprise kiss Katara is written as smiling. This means that she reciprocates Aang's feelings. But, the show presents her as unhappy. This means that she did not want to kiss Aang and she probably does not share his feelings.

The post even mentions the rumor of the scene being revised. This revision actually creates a problem. Visuals will stick in a person's head longer. By showing Katara's reaction as unhappy, it means that the feelings do across as one sided. And it can easily be interpreted that Katara is not interested in Aang. The script to screen translation was ruined, because while people can ship what they want, on screen people will remember Katara's unhappy reaction.

I would like your thoughts on this.

You are absolutely right about how visuals need to match intention, and I definitely think that's a big reason why this scene is a point of such contention. However, I personally don't think the frown necessarily indicates that she has no interest in Aang romantically. There are many reasons why she might be frowning in that moment, and to me, the big one is that he kissed her right before leaving her. If you think back to Katara's anger at Aang for flying off in "The Awakening," and how it was connected to her trauma over her dad leaving, you understand why this moment is so traumatic for Katara, not because she doesn't care about Aang but because she cares about him. And maybe somewhere in there there are romantic feelings, but I think Aang really takes Katara's feelings for granted, frankly. His kiss here is probably the most explicit he has ever been to Katara about his feelings for her, and he doesn't even give her any time to process it before flying right into danger.

The post I reblogged recently by @ecoterrorist-katara about KA and compulsory heterosexuality talks a lot about this, and a lot of the KA scenes are framed in terms of idealizing the idea that Katara should want Aang, without actually showing us her feelings or taking account that Katara might have her own issues to deal with, and a lot of Katara's issues center around abandonment, and we already know she projects those feelings onto Aang.

That was why she was unhappy in DoBS, and then Aang assuming ownership of her in EIP because of it, when Katara wasn't even allowed to process her feelings over it, certainly didn't help matters.

And Aang does assume ownership of her because of it. He says, "we kissed at the invasion, and I thought we were gonna be together, but we're not." And you can be sure that him ignoring her protests and kissing her a few seconds later also happened because he thought that kissing her once meant he was entitled to do it again. I've seen this attitude from fans, too, that the violation in EIP wasn't that bad because he kissed her before. So let me reiterate that it doesn't matter how into Aang Katara is or whether they kissed before, there is no blanket universal consent to another person's body, and Katara was saying and signaling that she did not want to be kissed in that moment, even if they had had the proper time to process and talk about what happened at the invasion or if Katara had been smiling.

[ryuwonieebae]

Unexpected Confession

---------------------

𝐖𝐎𝐎𝐙𝐈 (우지) Imagines, One-shots

Pairing : idol!Woozi x fem!reader

Genre : Fluff, romance

Warning : None

Woozi wrote a song which was secretly for you but what if the secret is no longer a secret...

---------------------

You hummed according to the rhythm, listening to the newly made song by your bestie who gave you a satisfied grin watching your response to the song. As soon as you finished listening to it, you clapped cheerfully and shook your hands with him, praising it.

"It's good, right? Or should I–"

"Yes. It's amazing. I love it.. -but now eat this food. I know you didn't consume anything since yesterday," you said revealing the food you made making his mouth go wide. You chuckled at his adorable reaction to his favourite food.

"Jjajangmyun?! Did you cook it yourself? Wahh! Thank you so much Y/N-ahh!"

"Yeah, I did and you're welcome," you gave him the noodles which he gladly received and ate. After a big bite, his cat eyes enlarged as he looked at your direction with a satisfied look. He nodded his head indicating that the food was appetising.

"Enjoy, then. Also don't forget to take rest. To be honest, you look like a dead rat I mean cat. Okay, bye! I need to go home"

"Already?" The disappointment in his voice was visible. You noticed his unhappy face and sighed.

"My little sister is alone at home. That's why,"

"Oh....Okay," he sighed. You felt a bit bad to leave him all alone in this kind of creepy and huge studio but what can you do when your little sister needs you?

You made your way toward him hesitantly and gave him a kiss on his cheek. Woozi looked up at you like he had just seen a horrifying ghost while you smiled innocently. You patted his rosy cheeks and made your way toward the door acting as if nothing happened just know.

"I know that you wrote the song just for me. Sorry but I kind of eavesdroped on your phone call with your manager. Hehe"

"Wh—what? You're joking, right?" He asked you nervously with a forced laughter.

"Why would I joke? There's something I need to tell you too..I—umm..I love you too! Bye! Let's meet later!" grinning ear to ear, with your reddened face, you shouted loudly as you closed the metal door with a loud thud. While woozi was still sitting on his chair with a blank expression.

"This girl aishh! She is something," Woozi caressed his cheeks slowly. Thinking about what had happened just know, he could feel his face flashing crimson-red as his heartbeat fastens.

"I love you too," Woozi whispered as smile made its way to his face. I guess no one has made him feel like that except you>_<..

---------------------

A/n : +This fanfiction is purely based on my imagination only.

+It's totally fictional!

+I hope this is good enough to make you guys happy. I'm still learning to write in a creative way. Thank you for supporting me. It means a lot to me. Thanks to my besties too<3...